UBS to divulge 4450 account names, more coming

[The Hope Mobile]

Source: AP

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER and DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writers Stephen Ohlemacher And Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writers – Wed Aug 19, 10:27 am ET

WASHINGTON – Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed Wednesday to turn over to the IRS the details of 4,450 accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets by American customers, ending an intense trans-Atlantic legal fight.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the accounts held $18 billion in assets at one time. Many have since been closed, he said.

The deal will give the Internal Revenue Service thousands of long-sought account names, and is expected to provide even more UBS clients who voluntarily disclose their financial details to the agency, Shulman said.

UBS has an estimated 52,000 accounts of U.S. customers. The IRS chief said the 4,450 accounts being relinquished to the agency were the ones most suspected of containing undeclared assets.

"I believe this agreement gives us what we wanted — access to information about those UBS accountholders most likely to have been involved in offshore tax evasion," Shulman said.

He said that other account holders appear to be in compliance with U.S. tax laws.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ubs_secrets;_ylt=Atd2Rh2PbnDWJLtUftFq_DNa24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTJocjY2M3FpBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwODE5L3VzX3Vic19zZWNyZXRzBGNwb3MDNARwb3MDNARzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA3N3aXNzYmFua3Rvcg--

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4450 out of 52,000 at this bank alone.

Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condi, Poppy . . . I wish . . .

[sabra]

1. Secret No More: UBS to Divulge 4450 U.S. Client Names to Fraud Probers

Source: ABC News

Under Tax Treaty Agreement, Swiss Bank to Share Account Holders in Hunt for Tax Cheats

The U.S. and Switzerland have signed a historic agreement that will uncover the shroud of Swiss banking secrecy and potentially billions of dollars stored in accounts there by wealthy U.S. account holders who could be dodging U.S. taxes by storing money in offshore accounts.

The Justice Department and IRS reached an agreement with Switzerland to obtain information from UBS AG to identify information on up to 4,450 accounts held by the Swiss banking giant. The IRS will now submit a treaty request to the Swiss government asking for information about targeted UBS accounts.

The agreement comes after a year of legal wrangling between UBS, the Swiss government and high ranking officials at the Justice Department and IRS. After the agreement was signed IRS Commissioner Dan Shulman said, "We'll be receiving an unprecedented amount of information on taxpayers who have evaded their tax obligation by hiding money offshore at UBS."

"This agreement represents a major step forward to pierce the veil of bank secrecy and combat off shore tax evasion." Shulman said.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8363725

[ingac70]

2. I want these names broadcast on TV. n/t

[thecrow]

3. I thought the number was 52,000

They must have cut one HELL of a deal!

[TheCoxwain]

6. The rest must have made political contributions to the two parties

[Lasher]

8. That's right and 4,450 just ain't good enough.

52,000 Tax Evaders Now Holding Financial World Hostage

According to Reuters, the amended deal between the IRS and Switzerland to cut down the number of disclosures from 52,000 to 5,000 comes on the heels of the understanding by the US Treasury that after Goldman and CRE, it is now 52,000 tax cheats who hold the financial world hostage. Apparently if all the 52,000 tax evaders fled from UBS, it would spell the end of the world (once again).

"NZZ am Sonntag said the U.S. government had backed off from the original demands of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because the U.S. Treasury Secretary did not want to provoke another financial crisis by pushing UBS over the edge."

At what point with (sic) Tim Geithner show a modicum of backbone and actually do the right thing instead of bowing to pressure from any which direction? The irony is that for all intents and purposes Swiss bank secrecy is over:

NZZ am Sonntag said the names of those to be disclosed would be those suspected of committing tax fraud under the terms of the double taxation agreement, which obliges Switzerland to provide help if Washington seeks it in a criminal investigation.

Accounts below a certain size would not be reported, but this limit would be kept confidential so that account-holders could never be sure whether they were vulnerable, it said.

However, account-holders threatened with disclosure would be able to challenge the move in the Swiss courts, it said.

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/3424351

[zbdent]

4. Ruh roh Reorge ...

[DCKit]

5. I hope Depends makes a designer brand.

Regardless, the smell of poop is going to dominate Hollywood, banking, Wall St., corporate boardrooms and offices for the next few days.

Here's hoping the fines are (at least) 10x of the fraud. We need to pay off the debt.

[customerserviceguy]

16. There have got to be famous people on the final list

From my tax accountant days, I know that the IRS is one agency that delights in afflicting the rich and famous. They like to create the reasoning of: "Wow, if Mr. (insert famous person's name here) can't get away with this, I surely have no shot at it!"

It's going to be delicious!

[tomm2thumbs]

7. OMG! My health savings account!!!

lol

RUN you cockroaches - RUN!!!

[Soylent Brice]

9. K&R

[elehhhhna]

10. WONDER WHAT IT COSTS TO GET OFF THE LIST.

[lanlady]

11. Swiss Bank UBS to Divulge at Least 4,450 Account Names

Source: Washington Post

The Swiss government will turn over names of suspected tax-dodgers who have held 4,450 secret accounts at banking giant UBS, accounts that at one point held as much as $18 billion, U.S. officials said Wednesday morning.

The settlement follows a long-running effort by the U.S. government to penetrate Swiss bank secrecy and catch tax evaders. The United States had been seeking a federal court order demanding that UBS identify the American holders of 52,000 accounts. The Swiss government vowed to prevent such a disclosure, leading to weeks of negotiations and Wednesday's announcement.

"We will be receiving an unprecedented amount of information," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said Wednesday morning. "This agreement represents a major step forward with the IRS's efforts to pierce the veil of bank secrecy and combat offshore tax evasion."

The process could take a year.

Schulman said the deal sends an "unmistakable message" to tax dodgers: "Wealthy Americans who have hidden their money offshore will find themselves in a jam," he said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081901395.html?nav=rss_email/components&sid=ST2009081901477

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Huge coup for the IRS. Will it set the precedent for other countries to pursue?

[goclark]

12. Many many big surprises ~ nt

[Octafish]

13. What about the other 47,550?

Hmmmm? I got a pretty good idea of somebody to ask why this matters:

Know your BFEE: Phil Gramm, the Meyer Lansky of the War Party, Set-Up the Biggest Bank Heist Ever.

Former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Draft & Tax Dodger) left the Senate, after his wife, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, gave a nice regulatory kiss to ENRON. Unlike most Americans his age who find themselves out of a job, Sen. Gramm found his way into the Vice Chairmanship of UBS.

[Union Yes]

14. To the 4450: Seize 100% of their assets. Can we revoke their citizenship?

Tax avoiders do not deserve US citizenship.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lasher]

17. "...other account holders appear to be in compliance with U.S. tax laws."

That's present tense. What about the ones who were breaking US tax laws and have since moved money to some other haven?